Lenny Abrahamson Joins Judging Panel for Shoot To Thrill

Lenny Abrahamson will be among the judges for the Hot Press Shoot To Thrill competition, run in association with Carlton Screen Advertising.

Abrahamson joins a panel of judges which also includes the M.D. of McCann Erickson, Orlaith Blayney, Eoin Wrixon of Carlton Screen Advertising and Ian Jacobs, Creative Director at Windmill Lane Pictures. The panel will be chaired by Hot Press editor Niall Stokes.

The ace film director – whose hits include the widely acclaimed Adam & Paul, Garage and What Richard Did – is currently in New Mexico shooting his latest cinematic adventure, entiled Frank. The movie, developed by Film4, and produced by Irish producer Ed Guiney, is based on a memoir by writer Jon Ronson, about his time playing keyboards in a rock’n’roll band, fronted by the legendary Frank Sidebottom aka Chris Sievey. The film will star Michael Fassbender, Domhnall Gleeson and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Final shooting is due to take place in Dublin over the coming month.

Orlaith Blayney, the MD of creative agency McCann Erickson, has also been named among the judges. Blayney is one of the leading lights in the advertising business in Ireland. She was just 32 when she was appointed MD of McCann Erickson in 2003 and the company has since gone from strength to strength, with billings of €25 million in 2010. McCann Erickson have handled the creative brief for some of the most prestigious clients operating in Ireland, including Coca Cola, Powerade, Nescafe, Unilever, Boyle Sports, L’Oreal, Dairygold, Tayto and many more.

Ian Jacobs is Creative Director at Windmill Lane Pictures. He heads the Commercials Dept., as well as working as Senior Flame Artist. Ian has been working in TV and Film Post Production for 20 years. During that time he has been involved in a vast array of major commercials campaigns, as well as film and broadcast titles, idents and vfx.He has worked on campaigns for Guinness, Eircom, National Lottery, Harp, AIB, Bank of Ireland, Lyons Tea, An Post, Golden Pages and Heineken, along with international campaigns for Strongbow Cider and Digicel, among many more leading brands and companies.

“We are really thrilled to have Lenny, Orlaith and Ian on board,” Hot Press editor Niall Stokes said. “The competition represents a wonderful opportunity for the winner to make his or her mark – and the calibre of the judges underlines just how seriously we are taking Shoot To Thrill.”

Entrants have been asked to create a 30 second ad for Hot Press, suitable for running in cinemas – and the winner will be named the Hot Press Carlton Screen Advertising Young Director of the Year.

“We decided that we’d give people complete freedom to dream up an ad that would communicate what makes Hot Press such an essential part of the fabric of life in Ireland,” general manager of Carlton Screen Advertising Eoin Wrixon said. “We’d love to get a really powerful statement because it is going to be on every cinema screen in Ireland for the rest of 2013.”

The competition is supported by Windmill Lane Pictures and Ardmore Studios and the prize includes two days of post-production for the winner – to use on a project of his or her own – at new state-of-the-art facilities in Herbert Street; and 1.5 days of studio time in Ardmore Studios in the 3,000 sq. ft. Stage 3 studio.

The closing date for entries is March 1st, 2013 – so if you haven’t started already, it’s time to get weaving.